facilitate

English

Etymology

Anglicisation of French faciliter (“facilitate”) through the suffix -ate (verb-forming suffix), ultimately from Latin facilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fəˈsɪlɪteɪt/, /fəˈsɪləteɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

facilitate (third-person singular simple present facilitates, present participle facilitating, simple past and past participle facilitated)

1. To make easy or easier.
   • 1960 February, “The first of London's new Piccadilly Line trains is delivered”, in Trains Illustrated, page 94:

     Features such as trackless doors, mercury-type door interlocks, roof-mounted door fault indicator lights, rubber window glazing, improved retractable shoegear and a modified electro-pneumatic brake system designed to facilitate maintenance and improve reliability, which have proved their worth on the prototype trains, are continued in the new stock.

   • 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 75:

     The flatness of the landscape facilitates views right across the Firth of Forth to Fife, before the railway begins to pierce the Edinburgh suburbs.

2. To help bring about.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

     But while she was pursuing this thought the good genius of Sophia, or that which presided over the integrity of Mrs Honour, or perhaps mere chance, sent an accident in her way, which at once preserved her fidelity, and even facilitated the intended business.

3. To preside over (a meeting, a seminar).

Synonyms

• (to make easy or easier): ease

Antonyms

Senses 1 and 2:

• hinder
• impede

Related terms

• facile
• facilitation
• facilitative
• facilitator
• facilitatory
• facility

Translations

to make easy or easier

• Arabic: سَهَّلَ (ar) (sahhala)
• Armenian: դյուրացնել (hy) (dyuracʻnel), հեշտացնել (hy) (heštacʻnel)
• Bulgarian: улеснявам (bg) impf (ulesnjavam), благоприятствам (bg) impf (blagoprijatstvam), спомагам (bg) impf (spomagam), спомогна pf (spomogna), улесня (bg) pf (ulesnja), облекчавам (bg) impf (oblekčavam), облекча pf (oblekča)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使……容易 (shǐ ... róngyì), 輔助／辅助 (zh) (fǔzhù), 促进 (zh) (cùjìn), 幫助／帮助 (zh) (bāngzhù)

• Czech: usnadnit (cs), ulehčit
• Danish: facilitere
• Dutch: vergemakkelijken (nl), faciliteren (nl)
• Esperanto: faciligi
• Finnish: helpottaa (fi)
• French: faciliter (fr)
• German: erleichtern (de), fördern (de)
• Greek: διευκολύνω (el) (diefkolýno)
• Italian: facilitare (it), agevolare (it)
• Korean: 일을 용이하게 하다 (ireul yong'ihage hada)
• Kyrgyz: азайтуу (ky) (azaytuu), басаңдатуу (ky) (basaŋdatuu), жеңилдетүү (ky) (jeŋildetüü), оңойлотуу (ky) (oŋoylotuu)
• Maori: huawaere, tūāpā
• Norman: faciliter
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gjøre lettere, forenkle (no)

  Nynorsk: gjere lettare, forenkle, forenkla

• Ottoman Turkish: قولایلامق (kolaylamak)
• Persian: تسهیل کردن (tashil kardan)
• Polish: ułatwiać (pl), torować (pl), upraszczać (pl)
• Portuguese: facilitar (pt)
• Romanian: facilita (ro), ușura (ro), înlesni (ro)
• Russian: спосо́бствовать (ru) impf (sposóbstvovatʹ), поспосо́бствовать (ru) pf (posposóbstvovatʹ), помога́ть (ru) impf (pomogátʹ), помо́чь (ru) pf (pomóčʹ), облегча́ть (ru) impf (oblexčátʹ), облегчи́ть (ru) pf (oblexčítʹ), соде́йствовать (ru) impf (sodéjstvovatʹ), посоде́йствовать (ru) pf (posodéjstvovatʹ)
• Slovak: uľahčiť
• Spanish: facilitar (es)
• Swedish: underlätta (sv), förenkla (sv)
• Turkish: kolaylaştırmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: поле́гшувати impf (poléhšuvaty), поле́гши́ти pf (poléhšýty), сприя́ти impf (spryjáty)

to help bring about

• Bulgarian: способствам (bg) (sposobstvam)
• Finnish: helpottaa (fi)
• Maori: tūāpā
• Ukrainian: сприя́ти impf (spryjáty)

to preside over (a meeting, a seminar)

• Finnish: johtaa puhetta, johtaa (fi), fasilitoida

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} faciliter (fr)

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

facilitate

1. inflection of facilitare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

facilitate f pl

1. feminine plural of facilitato

Anagrams

• felicitata

Latin

Noun

facilitāte

1. ablative singular of facilitās

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin facilitas through French facilité. Equivalent to facil +‎ -itate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fatʃiliˈtate]

Noun

facilitate f (plural facilități)

1. facility

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	facilitate	facilitatea		facilități	facilitățile
genitive-dative	facilități	facilității		facilități	facilităților
vocative	facilitate, facilitateo			facilităților

Spanish

Verb

facilitate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of facilitar combined with te